About Us

Hello and welcome to my blog. Feel free to click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

PLEASE DO NOT USE ANY OF MY PHOTOS WITHOUT FIRST SEEKING MY PERMISSION.

My daughter and I live in a tiny cottage next to a small river. We are lucky enough to have a large garden and a separate rented plot of land, which we divide into paddocks for our two driving ponies. We grow lots of herbs, vegetables and soft fruit in our cottage garden.

We keep a hive of bees and we share our lives with a selection of other wonderful animals (more about all those later).

We try to live very simply and as close to nature as is possible here and we try to maintain our plot and our home using permaculture practices. The cottage is heated with foraged and free firewood. Wood also heats our water.

We gather wild food and make preserves and other yummy things and we barter produce and my labour with other people in our community. Rainwater is used on the garden and to water our animals. We also make LOTS of compost! Our garden is a haven for wildlife, with a good-sized wildlife pond, the river along one boundary, various bird nest boxes, bug boxes, bee boxes, bat boxes and bird feeders scattered about the place. We leave wild corners untouched to encourage as much wildlife and insect life here as possible. We garden organically. No chemicals have been used on our plot since we moved here. So far we have seen deer, badgers, hedgehogs, woodmice, weasels, barn, little and tawny owls, sparrow hawks, kingfishers, bank voles, firecrests, wrens, dunnocks, long-tailed tits, blue tits, coal tits, great tits, mistle thrushes, blackbirds, collared doves, plus lots of wild waterfowl ( we live opposite a wetland conservation area)…and many, many more species.

Hello:
What a joy to meet you.
Your perspective on life and all that surrounds you, is the most positive and inspirational I have read yet on WP.
You should bottle yourself and give huge dose to the whole world.
Not sure where you are, but see a bit of Irish in your eyes?
Bless you~

Hi Gator Woman ! …..and thank you for such a lovely comment 🙂 I think I am a bit of a mix..Irish bloodlines…maybe.. but who knows.. haha The green eyes run in the family and we have a diverse background. SO glad you enjoy my blog. Please feel free to share it I love to get new readers..Thanks once again. Blessings, Naomi xx

Hello Ma Larkin and thank you for following my blog. I enjoyed reading about you and your lifestyle, sounds very serene and peaceful. It gives me encouragement and inspiration to continue to pursue my dreams of owning my own mini farm someday raising alpacas and various other little creatures of nature, along with a big garden to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

I’ve stumbled across your website after the ‘Ma Larkin’ handle caught my eye, mainly due to the fact that I live in the area where The Darling Buds of May was filmed. Being a very novice blogger – I set up a website today, in fact, I very much enjoyed reading your posts and love the images on your Pinterest pages.

Anyway, just wanted to say how much I liked the site and I admire what you’re doing. I wish you good luck in finding your next home.

I know that one! This year for me has been a bit of a difficult one, with a parting from my home life if see my meaning. Thats why im trying to re-kindle my countrystyle and green life from when I was on my own before.

Just popped back to see your updates and pray that you have found a new abode that is suitable…as I cannot see a post to that affect. I am a Yank with Scottish roots who can’t help but wonder how one finds a village inwhich tis safe to drive one’s ponies. I dream of a one-horse buggy myself in my retirement which is not so far away, actually. So when you have a second, please do tell:) Love your home and your way of life…

Hi..I am currently checking out potential properties and land.. I will update my blog once I have news to share.. Hopefully good news…Thanks for checking in.. Your kind words are very much appreciated x

Nice blog I live in South Africa and have recently started homesteading we used to have a farm but couldn’t keep going for various reasons but really miss it just the same. Ive started growing organic veggies have a handful of ducks( Khaki Campbells ) some cute bunnies 3 Dogs and soon to add 2 goats and some Sussex chickens. We only have 1/2 an acre but its amazing what you can do with it 🙂 your blog is very inspiring and helps to keep me going when it all seems so slow thank you Ma Larkin 🙂